Bob Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 Had a great time at last nights Whiskyfest. They had a great variety of whiskies available for everyone's tasting pleasures. I had a chance to try a number of Bourbons/Ryes for the first time, and all were excellent except for 2. I really disliked the Old Potero products. I've read previously that others have not liked them either, but I had to see for myself, and I found them both to be much too harsh tasting. On a more positive note, I loved lots of things over at the Buffalo Trace tables. As others have previously noted, the George T. Stagg was outstanding! It received Malt Advocate Magazine's "Best of the Year Award" in the American Whiskey category. Elmer T Lee received a Lifetime Achievement award, along with Booker Noe. Others sampled for the first time were Blanton's Single Barrel, which I thought was very good , 20 Year Old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve was superb , Van Winkle's 13 Year Old Family Reserve Rye received a double super rating , I liked Sazarac's Rye, but thought that it was not as good as Van Winkle's, and during Lincoln Henderson's seminar (The Art of Pot Stilled Bourbon), we got to try the "New Make Potstill Whiskey", which was outstanding. I inquired about the release date of the George T Stagg, from a Buffalo Trace rep, and was told that it would not be released for approximately one more month. I want to try more ASAP! All in all, it was a great night. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdelling Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 >and during Lincoln Henderson's seminar (The Art of Pot Stilled Bourbon), we>got to try the "New Make Potstill Whiskey"I'd love to hear more about this. Did he have interesting things to say aboutusing the pot still? Any impressions / rough tasting notes of the whiskey?Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted October 18, 2002 Author Share Posted October 18, 2002 Tim,Lincoln Henderson reviewed the entire distilling process, as well as the history of the distillery. He stated that the renovations of the distilley had cost about 12 million, and that the stills cost a quarter of a million bucks. The stills were designed and made by a company from Scotland. He informed the group that the size of their stills are small in comparison to those used in Ireland and Scotland. The really cool part of his talk involved tasting their new Bourbon, which should be released next spring, as well as the "Low Wine", (about 40 proof, which was very grainy and nasty tasting), "High Wine" (100 proof, where the fruity flavors started coming through) and "new whiskey", which was over 150 proof. All of these were clear colored. The final product, is very good. It has some similiarity to the current Woodford Reserve, but my recollection is that it was even more flavorful. I'm afraid that I really can't tell you more about the flavor characteristics, as I sampled lots of great whiskies during the evening. I can tell you that it did taste great, and I'm looking forward to the release date, so that we can all begin to enjoy this on a regular basis. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdelling Posted October 19, 2002 Share Posted October 19, 2002 Thanks for the report!When LH says "small in comparison to those used in Ireland and Scotland",I wonder if he's also commenting on the amount of reflux in the still.Tall skinny stills are known to make "lighter" spirit, while short fat stillsare known to make spirit with more "character".Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts